WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 -- Sen. Roger Wicker issued the following press release:
For all Mississippi's progress in job creation, infrastructure improvements, and student achievement, we have a lot of work to do to reverse negative trends in maternal healthcare. In recent years, Mississippi has had among the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. Half of our counties are considered maternity care deserts, or areas that lack hospitals, birth centers, or access to obstetric physicians. Too many moms lack adequate prenatal care. Nearly a quarter visited a doctor for the first time in their second or third trimester or did not see one at all.
The challenge is urgent, but the ray of hope is that most cases of maternal mortality are preven...